OnLive Extends Free Service Offer

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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OnLive Extends Free Service Offer


OnLive has extended its "Founding Members Program" into September, offering new members a full year of free access to the cloud gaming service.

OnLive, which officially opened its doors to the public a few days ago, promises to offer all the goodness of real videogaming without any of the usual hassles: All the work is done at remote servers and fed to pretty much any halfway-decent PC with a broadband connection, which means no more worries about system requirements, upgrading to the latest console every few years or ever having to leave the house to buy a game.

Of course, such a new and different approach means that questions and doubts are many, so to entice gamers to give it a shot, OnLive came up with a "first-come, first-serve" Founding Members Program, making the first year of service free and the second year available at only $4.95 per month. The promotion must have been a resounding success (or, I suppose, an abject failure) because the deal was originally set to end when the service opened to the public but has now been extended to September 6.

There are a few catches, of course. The "free" bit includes only the normal monthly service fee, so access to demos and community stuff is covered but full versions of games and other content will still need to be purchased separately. More interesting is that the Founding Members Program is currently the only membership option available, but there's no guarantee that applicants will actually get in; after filling out the application, OnLive will send out invitations "subject to service availability and the satisfaction of other criteria," which includes location, age requirements, sufficiently phat pipe and numerous other factors [http://www.onlive.com/legal/foundingoffer].

I don't know if there's an actual lottery system at work here or if this is just some pushy marketing meant to dial up the interest, but it's free either way so if you're at all curious about OnLive or cloud gaming in general, you might as well give it a rip. Find out more or just put your name in the hat at OnLive.com [http://www.onlive.com].

via: Joystiq [http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/18/onlive-founding-members-program-extended-until-labor-day-trin/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+weblogsinc%2Fjoystiq+%28Joystiq%29]


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Jaebird

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Aug 19, 2008
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Anyone else think having "L-I-V-E" spelled out on the face buttons looks a bit silly?
 

DigitalSushi

a gallardo? fine, I'll take it.
Dec 24, 2008
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Anyone read the DigitalFoundry blog with regards to Onlive, I haven't had a chance to yet;


Jbird said:
Anyone else think having "L-I-V-E" spelled out on the face buttons looks a bit silly?
The Konami code will never be the same again!
*weeps*
 

JaymesFogarty

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Aug 19, 2009
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You can offer me free shit, but at the end of the day it's still shit. I don't see this taking off...
 

Keava

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Mar 1, 2010
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Jbird said:
Anyone else think having "L-I-V-E" spelled out on the face buttons looks a bit silly?
And all this time i thought it's just fancy way of writing EVIL on the pad *roll eyes*
 

Ironic Pirate

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May 21, 2009
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Jbird said:
Anyone else think having "L-I-V-E" spelled out on the face buttons looks a bit silly?
The whole D-Pad looks horrible!

Hell, if I have to use that controller the whole damn thing is a no-no. It looks horrendous.
 

Gilgamesh00

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Nov 22, 2008
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Ironic Pirate said:
Jbird said:
Anyone else think having "L-I-V-E" spelled out on the face buttons looks a bit silly?
The whole D-Pad looks horrible!

Hell, if I have to use that controller the whole damn thing is a no-no. It looks horrendous.
You can use your PC.
 

tmujir955

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Oct 12, 2009
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Ironic Pirate said:
Jbird said:
Anyone else think having "L-I-V-E" spelled out on the face buttons looks a bit silly?
The whole D-Pad looks horrible!

Hell, if I have to use that controller the whole damn thing is a no-no. It looks horrendous.
From what I've read on Joystiq, it seems you can use a 360 controller. That controller is for the microconsole that isn't out yet.
 

ThreeKneeNick

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Aug 4, 2009
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The mass media seem to be pretty much ignoring OnLive, i guess they need to do something to get the publicity they need, though, being free of any subscriptions would have been better. I really hope they don't get shut down, it would be such a waste.
 

mew4ever23

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Mar 21, 2008
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I lost all interest in this after I heard that if you lose your account, you lose the content you paid for.
 

Jared

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Jul 14, 2009
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I got a feelling a huge flop...face it, no one wants to pay subscritpion upon subscriptions! We just go to Steam!
 

KeyMaster45

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Jun 16, 2008
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It really is an interesting concept, and one I'd readily jump upon if I was certain about the technology's reliability. For me it would be nice, I could simply buy a PC that suited my academic needs instead of always shelling out extra cash simply so I can run the current gen PC games.(my current computer chokes on anything more graphics intensive than WoW) For those who simply don't have the cash to shell out on a top of the line gaming computer this service is very seductive, but ultimately off-putting because, if I remember right, you can pay for full versions of the games, but if your account stays inactive for more than 6 months you lose the licenses to the games you've paid for.

That doesn't fly very well with me, when I pay for a game (especially if I'm paying full price) I expect to be given access to it regardless of how long its been since I last picked it up.
 

veloper

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Jan 20, 2009
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I'm still wondering what solution they came up with to solve the technical difficulties (like double input latency) and the financial difficulties (one mainstream CPU + GPU per active user, for $5 per month).
 

Corpse XxX

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Jan 19, 2009
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I get the feeling that this will be an expensive way to game.. Subscription after subscription and loosing all if account dissapears..

To me this feels like a flop idea atm..

And i guess most people will still have needs for a normal computer, cause i guess you cant do as much on "onlive" as you can on a regular pc.
 

Andronicus

Terror Australis
Mar 25, 2009
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Meh, don't care. Not only is it a concept that I feel will fail utterly, but seeing as it's not even commercially viable in Australia, and likely never will be due to our piss-poor excuse for broadband, I don't really have any choice otherwise. I wish all the best to anyone who find enjoyment in it anyway. Speaking of which, has anyone on the Escapist actually decided to embrace it?
 

Zerbye

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Aug 1, 2008
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Andronicus said:
Speaking of which, has anyone on the Escapist actually decided to embrace it?
I haven't embraced it, but I'm trying out the free trial. Performance is surprisingly good (I'm in Boston). The best thing about it is the ability to demo any game they sell for 1 hour. It's also neat to be able to watch others play games that you don't own. The bad things are the subscription model, the possibility of losing all the games you "buy", and the low res (stuck at 720p until broadband evolves).

The only games I see myself having any interest in paying a temporary subscription for are the sports games. Why play NBA 2K10 when you get NBA 2K11?

OnLive seems like it would be a great gateway to get casual gamers into PC games, just by the demos and spectating alone. If you have any non-gamer friends who waste their time on Solitaire, get them to try this out. We might get some converts.
 

BaldursBananaSoap

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May 20, 2009
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The lag and resolution with Onlive are horrible. Not to mention losing your games if you don't play them, the overpriced games and it requiring a constant internet connection to actually play them.

Buying a good PC and buying from Steam will probably work out cheaper than paying for Onlive with a subscription on top and then horribly priced games on top of that.